


Chemistry

by katerbees



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 14:31:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12819582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katerbees/pseuds/katerbees
Summary: Molly is in medical school. Her third year, she takes an elective chemistry course: The Science of Inebriation. Her professor is none other than Sherlock Holmes.





	1. Chapter 1

Molly Hooper slung her backpack over her shoulder, putting on her gloves as she stepped out of her dormitory.  She braced herself for the cold as she pushed open the door. The winter air was cold; it smelled of snow and new beginnings. Molly had just returned to campus after Holiday break. She had spent it with her mother and brother in Bath. Her father had passed away in August a few months prior; leukemia. This first holiday had been difficult for their family. Her mum had cried several times Christmas eve and Christmas day. Of course there was nothing Molly or Edward could say to make it better, but they knew that they were helping just by being present.  

Molly was a third year medical school student. She had finished her pre-clinicals and was now allowed to pick some electives.  When she read the title for the class she was on her way to, she did a double take as she had thought it was a joke at first. “The Science of Inebriation. “  Yet, there it had been, with a course description and everything. Molly couldn’t resist something so interesting. And with her interest leading towards pathology, she thought it might come in handy to study the effects that alcohol had on the body. This was the first semester for the course, so there were no online notes to look at beforehand; just a syllabus and few handouts.

Molly arrived in her classroom. She looked around the sea of familiar faces and decided to sit near the front and center. Close enough to hear well, but not too close as to get called on too often. She took out her notebook and two pens, the syllabus, and silenced her phone.

She looked over the syllabus again. The professor was a visiting lecturer by the name of Sherlock Holmes. What a stuffy old man name, Molly thought. A quick Google search would have provided Molly evidence to the contrary, but she hadn’t thought to look.  The clock reached the hour and the students quieted down expectantly. Mr. Holmes was nowhere to be seen yet.

“So what are the rules again? 15 minutes late and we can leave?” One of Molly’s classmates mused.

“I hear this guy is a bit of a nutter, so we might want to make it to 20 at least.” A girl responded.

Molly reviewed the syllabus once more, wrote the date at the top of her notes, and generally tried to keep to herself.

At ten past the hour. He walked in.

Sherlock Holmes was a man not much older than some of the traditional students, judging by appearances. He had curly black hair, sea green eyes, and a scowl etched on his face.

“Chemistry 221, Science of Inebriation. Make sure you are in the correct classroom. “ he approached the desk, leaned back on it, and scanned the classroom.

No one got up to leave. “Alright, that’s a good sign. No one here is a total idiot.” The class quietly laughed. “Today we will go over course rules and expectations. I expect you to be here if you wish to learn. Tests will cover material covered only in class. Therefore, if you wish to do well you will attend class. I am giving up my Tuesday and Thursday mornings to be here, I expect you all to do the same. I will not be taking attendance though. You, or your parents, or the government, are paying for you to be here. If you do not attend it is your loss and your loss alone. I will not waste my time on something so pedantic. Are we clear?”

Head nods and quiet yesses filled the air.

Molly kept her head down, writing notes even though she could easily remember everything the man was saying.

“Do you really need notes on this?” Professor Holmes zeroed in on her. Molly froze. Was he talking to her? She looked up, their eyes met. He was most definitely looking at her.

“No sir. I just take notes on everything. Sorry sir.” Molly replied quietly, and put her pen down, willing herself to keep eye contact.

“Very well. I advise you all that sometimes it is better to be in the moment, actively assessing and observing rather than keeping your head down and being chained to a pen and paper. That is why I am so good at my job. Which bring me to my next point,” he turned and approached the whiteboard, picking up a marker,  “My name is Sherlock Holmes.” He wrote it on the board and turned back to face the class, “You may call me, Professor, Mr. Holmes, or the world’s greatest consulting detective.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Molly had her infection and immunity class that afternoon, which was much less lighthearted. Fortunately for her, Professor Holmes had not called on her anymore that day. Molly felt herself growing slightly embarrassed as she recalled the earlier event. She had never been picked on in class before for taking notes, she huffed to herself. Oh well. Clearly this visiting lecturer had some different notions about how classrooms were supposed to be run. And he could not have been that much older than the students. Molly arrived back at the residence hall.  She had her own room, but shared a bathroom with Mary Marston, a hilarious woman who Molly had met the previous year. Mary was studying psychology. Molly sat her bag down by the door and looked to see if Mary’s hall door was open; it was, so Molly walked through the hallway.

Mary was lying face down on her bed, headphones on, while highlighting in a textbook. Molly tried to make her steps louder to give her friend a warning, but Mary was in the zone. Molly tapped her on the shoulder.

Mary lept up into a defensive position, “Jesus Christ Molly! I almost punched you in the face!” Mary loosed a breath and slouched back onto the bed.

Molly’s eyes were wide, “Sorry, I tried to make some noise. I really did.”

“It’s ok. You just know how I am..” Mary commented, turning her music off and putting a post-it in her textbook.  Mary was alluding to the fact that she was well versed in self-defense. She had told Molly it was from an abusive relationship she had been in in high school, but Molly always thought there was a bit more to it. And whenever Molly pried too much, Mary would make a joke about it and change the subject.

“Yeah, sorry. How was your first day back?” Molly asked.

“Good. Yeah, it was good. Neuroscience in the morning and psychology and the law in the afternoon. It’s actually a shared class with the law students so it will be quite interesting to hear their perspectives as well I think.”

“That does sound interesting. I had neuroscience last year with Keller, let me know if you need any notes. Our professors are different, but the textbook looks the same, so it might be helpful.”

“Yeah, thanks. I’d appreciate it.” Mary smiled. “How was your first day? Meet any celebrities?”

“Pardon? No, I just had my chemistry elective and infections and immunity in the afternoon. They both seem interesting, but there were no celebrities in my class.” Molly responded, slightly confused.

“No, I meant teaching your class.” Mary raised an eyebrow.

“Uh..there’s a visiting lecturer who seems pretty new to teaching, but he has an old person name. I think I’d remember if he was a celebrity. And Dr. Foster is famous in the epidemiology field, but I hardly think that counts.”  

“Oh Molly.” Mary patted the bed next to her as she reached for her laptop. “How little you know!”

Molly gave her friend a dirty look and sat down next to her and watched Mary type, “Sherlock Holmes” into the search bar. Suddenly hundreds of articles, images, and websites came up.

“Oh my word.” Molly remarked. “He wasn’t lying. He is a famous consulting detective.”

“Weird huh?” Mary responded. “I think he’s pretty cute. I mean, dark haired guys aren’t really my thing, but I could see where women find him attractive. Don’t you think?”

“No!” Molly responded too quickly. “No. He is a professor. He is not attractive. That’s like finding your dad attractive. Mary. Where is your sense of decorum?”

Mary burst out laughing. “Hahaha you think he’s hot.”

“I do not!”

“Yeah, yeah you do. The lady doth protest too much!” Mary had rolled over onto her bed laughing. Molly hit her with a pillow.

“Oh please. I’m going to go study!” Molly stood up and started to walk back to her room.

“Don’t forget to copy those notes for me!”

“We’ll see!”

“Molly don’t turn your back on me!” Mary yelled while laughing as Molly shut her door.

Ahhh teasing Molly was too much fun. Mary smiled to herself. Of course, she did need to find out why exactly Mr. Holmes had decided to come and teach at this University. Could it be a coincidence? Maybe. But the universe was rarely so lazy.


	3. Chapter 3

Mycroft Holmes sat in his office. One of his many offices. This was the official one. Mahogany Desk, wool rug spread out beneath, stuffed and mounted bear lurking in the corner. Yes. Regal. He had just finished watching an episode of the Great British Bake Off and was ready to head out for the day when the doors to flew open. He barely looked up in alarm. He remembered what day it was.

“Come to throw a tantrum in person?” He asked, still looking down.

“Enjoy watching baking shows on the government’s dime Mycroft? Wouldn’t that be like me snorting crack while on a case?” Sherlock remarked as he strode up to Mycroft’s desk.

“I needn’t point out to you that you indeed abuse drugs while on cases all the time, therefore your attempted insult has, as usual, missed its mark. I take it your first day of class didn’t go well?” Mycroft folded his hands beneath his chin and looked up adoringly at his baby brother.

“I cannot believe you actually are making me go through with this. This is ludicrous. It is a waste of my time, and the worlds time to have me sitting in a classroom two days a week speaking to these idiots they let into medical college these days.” Sherlock snarled.

“You lost the bet fair and square. Don’t be a sore loser.” Mycroft stood up, buttoning his suit.

“I thought we were joking!” Sherlock whined again.

“No. You thought you were incapable of losing. Had I lost you would have followed me to the gym every day to make sure I committed to my full 90 days of crossfit. And now you will take your turn and teach this chemistry class. Now brother dear, will you be joining me for dinner this evening or are you busy grading papers?” Mycroft gestured to the door amiably.

Sherlock rolled his eyes, and turned on his heel. “I would never assign homework before the start of term Mycroft; fish and chips and you’re paying.”


	4. Chapter 4

Molly found her seat in class Thursday morning. She had her thermos and notebook sitting out on her desk. Two pens lined up. Phone silenced. She was ready. She was not going to be made to look foolish again by this, what was he calling himself? “consulting detective?” again. No. She would learn whatever he was there to teach, get an A, and move on.

Molly had looked up more and more about Professor Holmes once she had returned to her room.  It seemed he was somewhat famous and had a blog written about his cases.

The rest of the class filed in as class time neared, chatting among themselves. Molly didn’t have many friends in her medical school class. She had tried going to one of the mixers early on in school, but it hadn’t really been her scene. At least now she had Mary to hang out with. Molly checked her phone one last time, a text from Mary: _good luck concentrating! Don’t look at his bum too much._

 _  
_ The color drained from Molly’s face. Mary was too much sometimes. Yes, her professor was younger than normal, but he was not a model or anything. He was an arrogant young man who for whatever reason was doing some community service or fellowship or something. Molly put her phone away as Professor Holmes walked into the room.

“Today’s topic will be basic pharmaceutical compounds and their effects on the human body, both physical and psychological. In order to best understand common adverse reactions and interactions it is important to understand the underlying functions of the elements.” Professor Holmes began as he strode up to the whiteboard.

_Don’t look at his bum. Don’t look at his bum. I hate Mary. I hate Mary. Ok. I looked at it. It’s nice, but nothing amazing. I hate Mary._

_  
_ Molly began copying down the lecture outline that Sherlock had written on the board.  The lecture moved along extremely quickly. Once professor Holmes began talking about a topic, it was like watching and listening to a symphony. He moved quickly, with an excited fervor, often stopping to ask himself questions and answer them in quick succession. Molly found it difficult to take notes, his pace was so rapid and his lecture style so different. She was amazed to find that by the end of class, she had the original outline, and had only added a few notes; she had spent the majority of her class enraptured.

 _Damn it!_ _How am I supposed to come back and study my lecture notes if I don’t have any?_ Molly found herself wondering as she looked down at her notepad. She sighed and put it into her backpack.

“Is there a problem Ms. Hooper?” She heard Professor Holmes’ deep voice cut through the air. She snapped her head up, surprised he had heard her. She looked around to realize the majority of her classmates had already left .

“No sir. Not really. It’s just…” Molly stopped, worrying her lip. Professor Holmes did not seem like the kind of man who appreciated constructive criticism of any sort.

“Yes? Go on?” Sherlock leaned back against the desk. _Was he smirking?_

Molly  looked down and swallowed audibly. “When you lecture, you sort of enter this zone. Like, the topic you are discussing is the most interesting thing ever. It’s like you don’t even stop to breathe. I found myself so interested I forgot to actually write down any notes.” She admitted. She looked back up at Professor Holmes. He was no longer smirking. Instead it seemed as though he was studying her; studying every tiny thing about her. Silence filled the space, making Molly feel uncomfortable, like she had said something incredibly stupid. She quickly put her bag on. “Have a good weekend Professor.” She managed to breathe out as she exited the classroom.

Sherlock stood there watching her leave. It was so rare that he received a true compliment he had nothing to say to her. Indeed, most of the time when he opened his mouth, it seemed he said the wrong thing especially when he was not discussing cases or facts; silence had seemed his only option. He took out his phone to check his messages. Several from Mycroft, a few from Scotland Yard, and one from his good friend, John.

_Drinks ASAP. –JW_

_Where?—SH_

_Just not on campus—JW_

_Clearly. Barlows?—SH_

_That place is disgusting—JW_

_That place has amazing fish and chips and the owner owes me several barrels of free ale—SH_

_Barlows it is.—JW_  
  



End file.
